Suction cleaner



Feb. 4, 1941.

P. T. HAHN I SUCTAION CLEANER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 22, 1957 INVENTOR Paul 7. Hahn ATTORNEY Feb. 4, 1941. p HAHN 2,230,683

SUCTION CLEANER Filed July 22, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' INVENTOF? v 72 Paul IHa/ BY 5M ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 4, 1941 PATENT OFFICE 2,230,683 SUCTION CLEANER Paul T. Hahn, North Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover Company,,North Canton, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application July 22, 1937, Serial No. 154,995

2 Claims. (Cl. 240-2) The present invention relates to suction cleaners in general, and more particularly to a new and improved type of suction cleaner provide with flow-illuminating means.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved suction cleaner. Another object is to provide anew and improved suction cleaner embodying floor-illuminating means. Another object of the invention is to provide a suction cleaner of the type in which the floor nozzle is movably supported upon a chassis, relative to which the remainder of the machine including the suction creating means and handle is adjustable, the cleaner nozzle embodying electrical floor illuminating means. Still another object of the invention is to provide resilient currentconductingmeans extending between the angularly adjustable handle and the stationary floor illuminating means. Another object of the invention is to provide coiled springs for carrying current between the floor illuminating means and the movable handle. These and other specific objects will be apparent upon reading the following specification and claims, and upon considering therewith the attached drawings in which:

Fig. l is a front elevation of'the suction cleaner in which one embodiment of the present invention is disclosed, certain parts of the cleaner being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and shows the handle in a low position;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the cleaner with parts broken away and showing the handle in a vertical position; v

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one-half the combined lamp socket and casing for the coil spring current carrying conductors;

Fig. 5 is a front View of a suction cleaner embodying another form of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view partly in section, of a member for supporting the current carrying coil spring casing;

Fig. 7 is a section along the line 'I'| of Fig 5.

Figures 1 to 4 illustrate one embodiment of the invention employed in a suction cleaner having a nozzle Ill provided with front and rearcontacting lips II and I2 defining the mouth I3 of the nozzle I0.Which communicates with two passageways l4 and I5 formed integrally with the nozzle Ill. The passageway 14 opens directly to the eye l6 of the fan chamber ll, while the other passageway I5 extends to a point at the opposite end of a motor shaft 18 and encloses a belt driving pulley l9. Both passageways are provided with removable cap members 20, 28 at their ends.

The nozzle ill, or surface contacting casing, is provided with rigid downwardly extending arms forming a frame 2| movably supported upon front and rear wheels 22, 22 and 23, 23 respectively. The front wheels are provided with height adjusting means 24 operable to raise or lower the front wheels relative to the nozzle 10 II] for the purpose of raising and lowering the nozzle lips relative to the surface covering undergoing cleaning. A rotary agitator 25 is po-- sitioned within the nozzle mouth l3 and is adapted to contact the surface'covering between 15 the nozzle lips II and I2. The agitator 25 includes the usual rigid beating elements and'fiexible brush elements and is provided with a pulley surface for a belt 26 extending through the passageway IE to the pulley 19.

The fan chamber I1 is integral with and forms a part of an outer casing 28 provided with removable side walls 30; 30 which are rotatably sea-ted upon circular flanges 3|, 3| formed upon the inner walls of the passageways 25 I4 and I5 so that the casing 28, fan chamber I1 and fan exhaust 29 rotate as aunit about an axis coincident with the motor axis. Suitable seals 32, 32 are provided to render the joints air tight. False side members 33, 33 are 30 carried by the passageways l4 and I5 and are formed with inwardly turned flanges at their peripheries which extend into circular channels 34, 34 to cover completely the sealed joints and to improve the appearance of the machine. 85 Extending inwardly of the outer casing 28 is an annular rib 35 which forms the inner wall of the fan chamber l1 and also encloses in fixed sealed relation the housing 36 of a motor 31. The motor housing 36 is also supported by a plurality of lugs 38 formed on the outer casing 28, so that no movement takes place between the motor housing 36 and the surrounding casing 28 and the fan chamber II. The motor armature 39 and fan 21 are carried by the motor shaft l8 rotatable mounted in suitable ball bearings, one of which is indicated by the reference character 40 at the pulley end of the shaft.

A cleaner handle 4| is fixedly carried by the outer casing 28 in a rear ardly opening socket 42 formed integrally thereon. The handle is removably secured in the socket by means of a screw 43. The incoming power leads 44, 44 extend from the handle into the motor casing nected to the motor. The cleaner dust bag is formed of suitable filtering material which may be paper and is carried by an attachment ring 46 which is suitably secured to the exhaust outlet 29.

In order to control the pivotal position of the handle and to limit its movements within deflnite ranges or arcs of angular movements, handle-position-controlling means are provided which, in the present instance comprises an arcuate member 41 mounted on the outer casing 28, and a spring-pressed roller detent 48 mounted on the frame arm 2| and which rolls against the outer surface of the sector 41. Arcuate member or sector 41 is provided with spaced seats of various extent upon its outer edge or side, and-the spring force exerted upon the detent 48 is sufllcien-t to prevent unintended rotation of the outer casing 28 about its'supporting axis and accordingly of the handle when the detent is seated in one of .the seats,

The seats on the sector are so positioned that the handle is retained resistingly in an upright position, within the range of movement between the vertical and the horizontal, and in a horizontal position.

Upon the nozzle casing Ill-and immediately forward of the outer casing 28 is formed a lamp housing or casing 50 which opens forwardly of the machine and is protected at its outer edge by a resilient furniture guard 5|. Mounted on one side wallof the lamp housing 60 is a lamp socket 52 which has an end wall 53 provided with an aperture 54 for the reception of a nut and bolt connection indicated at 55 which detachably secures the lamp socket 52 to the end wall 56 of the lamp housing 50. The open end of the socket 52 is provided with insulated retaining means 61 having bayonet slots 58 for the detachable reception of an electric lamp 59.

In order to conduct current to the lamp 58 a pair of conductors 60 and 6| are coiled about the lamp socket 62, the conductor 50 being secured to the lamp socket by means of a screw 62 which also secures a contact 68 in the lamp socket, while theconductor 6| is secured to the socket 52 by means of a screw 64 which also holds the contact 65 in the lamp socket. Each contact 63 and 65 is provided with an angular end'portion 66 for engagement with the usual terminals on the lamp 58. The electric conductors 60 andil are confined about the lamp socket 52 by means of a casing 61 comprising two end plates 68 and 69 and a center plate 10 which separates the conductors from each other. The casing plates 68, 69 and Ill are constructed of insulating material and are detachably mounted on the lamp socket 52 by sliding onto the latter from the left towards the right as viewed in Figure 4 until the end plate 69 abuts the annular collar II, and then the socket and casing are detachably mounted to the lamp housing 50, as a unit, by means of the bolt and nut connection 55.

In order to accommodate the angular movement of handle 4| ,and outer casing 28 with respect to the nozzle casing lo the conductorslill and 6| are composed of coiled metal springs each properly insulated as indicated at '12 and have 7-0- their ends 13 suitably connected to the outer housing 28 by means of bolt and nut connections I4. Leads l5, 15 extend from the spring conductors Bland 6| to the motor 31 and into the electrical circuit of the machine and so to the incoming power leads.

through the socket 42 and are suitably con- In operation, closing of the motor circuit causes electric current to enter through the leads 44, 44 and pass to the cleaner motor 31, resulting in rotation of the suction-creating-fan 21 and of the driving pulley I9. The rotation of the pulley l8. results in the rotation of the agitator 25 which is connected thereto by the belt 26. The suction created by the fan 21 is effective through the air passageway l4 and in the nozzle I0, resulting in the lifting of the surface covering undergoing cleaning upwardly into contact with the nozzle lips II and I2 and with the rotating agitator positioned. therebetween. The agitator disturbs and dislodges the foreign matter from the surface covering and the air rushing into the nozzle carries the foreign matter through the air passageway I4 to the fan chamber I1 and from there through the exhaust outlet 29 and deposits it within the dust 'bag 45, the air continuing through the bag to the exterior atmosphere. The propulsion of the cleaner back and forth across the surface covering by the operator, who grasps the unshown upper end of the handle 4|, actually results in a pivotal movement of the handle relative to that part of the machine which remains in fixed relation relative to the surface covering that is, relative to the nozzle and its supporting chassis, and the air passageways l4 and I5. Movement of the handle 4| causes the outer casing 28, fan chamber I1, and the exhaust outlet 29, to rotate as a unit about their rotational axes, which in this embodiment, are coincidentally aligned with the axis of the driving motor and the fan.

It is seen, then, that as the handle pivots it rotates the motor and the fan casings about their seats upon the flanges 3|, 3| of the passageways l4 and I5. Dust bag 45 moves with the exhaust outlet 28 and the handle 4| and no relative motion takes place therein. As the pivoting parts move relative to the nozzle casing l 0, in the operation of the machine, relative movement also takes place between the appearance casing 28 and the illuminating unit comprising the lamp housing 56 and the lamp 58. As shown in Fig. 2, the handle 4| is substantially horizontal and in this position the spring conductors 60 and 6| are substantially completely expanded in the conductor casing 61. When the handle 4| is moved from the horizontal position to a substantially vertical position, as shown in Fig.3,the points of connection of the conductors 60 and 6| to the casing 28 and the socket 52, are widely separated and the conductors 60 and 6| are unwrapped or contracted with respect to the conductor casing -61. During this movement of the handle from horizontal to vertical position the coil spring conductors 6|! and 6| have been unwrapped from their casing against the natural tendency of the spring to wind itself in a clock wise direction as viewed in Fig. 2, and accordingly when the handle is in vertical position considerable energy is stored in the spring. Upon movement of the handle from a vertical position toward a horizontal position the spring conductors 60 and 6| will naturally coil about the lamp socket 52 so that at no time will the conductors 60 and 6| be in a slack condition.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in Figures, 5 to 7 and is employed in the general arrangement of the cleaner described in connec tion with the first embodiment, the difference between the two embodiments lying in the means by which electric current is conducted from the pivotal] mounted mc 71' casing to the illuminating means. The conductor casing 61 is slidably mounted upon a cylindrical supporting member 80 which has an annular surface 8| adapted to receive the insulated walls 68, 69 and 10 of the casing, the plate 69 abutting against an annular collar 82 provided on the supporting member. The conductor casing 61 and supporting member 80 are detachably mounted on the lamp housing by means of the nut and bolt connection '55 extending through the end wall 56 of the lamp housing and through an aperture 83 at the end of the supporting member 80. The spring conductor has its stationary end secured to the supporting member by means of a screw 84 which also is connected to an elongated; contact 85 having an angular end 86 to which is connected a lead 81 by means of a screw 88. The stationary end of the conductor 6| is secured to the supporting member 80 by means of a screw- 9| to which is. electrically connected another lead 92. Supported on the lower. wall 93 of the lamp housing 50 is a lampsocket 94 accommodating a lamp 95, suitably connected to the leads 8! land 92. The movable ends 13 of the conductors 60 and 6| are connectedto the outer casing 28 and to the circuit in the same manner as described in connection with the first embodiment.

In operation, spring conductors 60 and 6| wrap and unwrap themselves in theconductor casing 61 in response to the oscillating movement of the handle 4| with respect to the nozzle casing in so that the conductors are never in a slack condition.

I claim:

1. In a suction cleaner, a nozzle, a motorhandle unit casing pivotally mounted on said nozzle, an electric lamp on said nozzle for directing light rays forward thereof, and resilient current transmitting means having one end connected to said lamp and its opposite end mounted unit casing with respect to said nozzle causing a portion of the length of said resilient current transmitting means to be paid out and rewound,-

said motor handle unit casing being so constructed that said current transmitting means is reeled onto and off of said motor-handle unit casing as'said resilient current transmitting means is paid out and rewound upon said movementcf said motor-handle unit casing with respect to said nozzle.

2. In a suction cleaner having a nozzle and a handle pivotally mounted with respect thereto, a source of current movable with said handle, a headlight housing on said nozzle and arranged to'direct light rays forward thereof, a lamp in said housing, and helically wound resilient current transmitting means disposed in said housing, and connected to said lamp and to said handle for connection to said source of current, reciprocation of said handle with respect to said nozzle causing said resilient current transmitting means to wrap and unwrap a portion of its length to accommodate movement of the current transmitting means connected to said handle.

. PAUL T. HAHN. 

